WATCH: Antonio Brown apologizes to Robert Kraft on Instagram

Antonio Brown injected himself into headlines yet again for a post that is out of character by comparison to the many rants he has gone on throughout the fall.

Antonio Brown injected himself into headlines yet again Tuesday, this time for a social media post that is out of character by comparison to the many rants he has gone on throughout the fall.

A post the free-agent wide receiver shared on his Instagram account included a picture of him in his Patriots uniform Sept. 15 and was captioned, “Mr.Kraft I apologize sincerely to you and your organization! All I wanted to be was an asset to the organization; sorry for the bad media and the drama! Thank you sincerely, AB”

Brown played in only one game this season, helping the Patriots (9-1) past the Dolphins with four receptions for 56 yards and one touchdown. He was released the following week after the NFL opened an investigation in response to accusations of violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy — specifically, Brown is accused of sexual assault, harassment, and rape.

At different points since team owner Robert Kraft and the Patriots announced that Brown would no longer be a part of their team, Brown took to social media to attack the owner for his own legal case involving his visit to a massage parlor and engagement in sex acts.

A week after the NFL sat down with Brown for the first time since opening its investigation, Brown’s tone is apologetic.

Ex-teammates say Su’a Cravens is safe with family after scary social media posts

Former Redskins and Broncos safety Su’a Cravens is safe with family after posting alarming messages on social media on Sunday.

Former Redskins and Broncos Su’a Cravens safety posted alarming messages on his Instagram story Sunday before setting his account to private and listing his display name as “RIP 🙏🏾.”

“If these are my last days I want to say I love you ❤️ and I always will,” Cravens posted on his Instagram story. “God I leave the rest to you.”

One hour later, Cravens posted “Goodbye ❤️.”

Raiders linebacker Will Compton, who played with Cravens in 2016, tweeted on Sunday evening that the former safety is safe and with family.

Former Redskins safety Will Blackmon, who also played with Cravens in 2016, also tweeted good news.

Cravens (6-1, 224 pounds) entered the league as a second-round pick out of USC with the Redskins in 2016. The safety-linebacker hybrid and had an impressive rookie season, totaling 34 tackles, one sack and one interception.

Cravens suffered from post-concussion syndrome in 2017 and sat out his entire second season. Washington traded him to Denver in 2018 and he dressed for five games with the Broncos, totaling 18 tackles.

Cravens didn’t appear to be an ideal fit in Vic Fangio’s defense this summer and failed to make the 53-man roster. Denver opted to go with Justin Simmons, Kareem Jackson, Will Parks and Trey Marshall instead.

Cravens has remained a free agent since late August.

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Twitter reacts to Bucs’ brutal loss to Saints

The Bucs were searching for a much-needed victory against the Saints in Sunday’s crucial NFC matchup.

The Bucs were searching for a much-needed victory against the Saints in Sunday’s crucial NFC matchup, but instead, Jameis Winston and company, unfortunately, walked out of Raymond James Stadium with a gut-wrenching 37-17 loss.

Tampa Bay’s first touchdown of the day came from Peyton Barber on a 6-yard touchdown. Jameis Winston’s 48-yard pass to rookie wide receiver Scotty Miller set the Bucs up with first-and-goal from the one-yard line with less than three minutes remaining in the second quarter and Barber was able to put the Buccaneers on the board.

Rookie kicker Matt Gray then added three points to the scoreboard after nailing a 55-yard field goal, making the score 20-10 after the Saints got off to a solid start.

In an effort to stay alive and turn things around, Chris Godwin tried to keep the Bucs’ hopes alive by hauling in their second touchdown of the day and his seventh receiving touchdown of the season, adding another 7 for Tampa Bay. Unfortunately, however, numerous turnovers, multiple mistakes, and some miscommunication, unfortunately, cost Tampa Bay the game. With the loss, the Bucs are sitting at 3-7 this season while the Saints now improve to 8-2.

Here’s a closer look at what Twitter is saying following their loss:

How to vote your favorite Seattle Seahawks onto the Pro Bowl roster

Everything you need to know to cast your votes for your favorite Seattle Seahawks players to 2020 Pro Bowl roster.

Now that the NFL has entered the second half of the regular season, things are beginning to ramp up as teams compete for coveted playoff positions. Players are also starting to rally fans for votes to this year’s Pro Bowl, which will be held at Camping World Stadium, in Orlando, FL.

Here’s everything you need to know to vote your favorite Seahawks’ onto the Pro Bowl roster.

For the third season in a row, voting will be open for four weeks, with the polls closing on Thursday, Dec. 12.

Fans can vote multiple times for their favorite players, using a number of different mediums, including the league’s official website page at NFL.com/ProBowlVote.

In addition, fans can also vote directly on Twitter starting Nov. 28. All tweets should include the first and last name of the player, official Twitter handle (if available) or a hashtag including the player’s first and last name. All tweets must also include the #ProBowlVote hashtag.

The 2020 Pro Bowl is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. PT on Jan. 26 and will be televised on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes and Disney XD.

Pro Bowl rosters will be announced Tuesday, Dec.17 on the NFL Network’s Pro Bowl special “NFL Total Access: Pro Bowl Players Revealed.”

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Justin Wren, Rafael Lovato Jr. and special guest Rayden Overbay at Bellator 233

Justin Wren, Rafael Lovato Jr. and special guest Rayden Overbay at Bellator 233

Justin Wren, Rafael Lovato Jr. and special guest Rayden Overbay at Bellator 233

Broncos QB Drew Lock posts funny tweet after returning to practice

After returning to practice Tuesday, Broncos quarterback Drew Lock joked that he had almost forgotten how to put on a helmet.

Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Drew Lock injured his thumb in a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers on Aug. 19 and was placed on injured reserve. He hadn’t practiced for nearly three months before finally returning to the field on Tuesday.

After completing his first practice of the regular season, Lock jokingly tweeted that he had almost forgotten how to put on his helmet.

Broncos fans seemed to appreciate Lock’s sense of humor and voiced their support for the QB to get playing time as soon as possible.

Lock is still on injured reserve so he is not yet eligible to play. Denver has three weeks to decide if he will be activated to the 53-man roster or spend the rest of the season on reserve.

When starting quarterback Joe Flacco went down with a neck injury two weeks ago, Brandon Allen was named the new starter. Allen will start again against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday and Allen will likely start against the Buffalo Bills in Week 13.

Lock might have to wait until December to get a chance to start.

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NCSA: Five social media lessons for coaches

Any coach who’s looking to brush up their social media skills should look at these tips and tricks from NCSA.

Nelson Gord is a former collegiate and professional ballplayer, successful high school head coach and the founder of the largest travel baseball club in Illinois. Nelson is just one of many former college and professional athletes and coaches who are part of the Next College Student Athlete team. Their experience, along with NCSA’s history of digital innovation and long-standing relationship with the college coaching community, helped create NCSA Team Edition, the free recruiting platform for club and high school coaches and their teams.

Social media can be a tremendous tool for growing the reach and influence of your team or organization, but it also must be utilized properly in order to really help. That’s why NCSA Team Edition (our recruiting platform built for high school and club coaches) recently hosted a social media education webinar that covered many tips and issues that coaches and athletes may not be familiar with. It is a highly recommended watch for any coach who’s looking to brush up their social media skills. In this article, you’ll find just a few of the takeaways from this webinar.

Athletes and parents: You can also apply much of this information to your own social media presence, especially the section about dos and don’ts. 

Click here to watch the full social media education webinar.

Celebrate achievements

When your team and athletes are doing well and others see that, it’s a great boost for your brand and reputation. That’s why when athletes have an impressive game, cap off a solid season, win an award, etc., you should share that achievement, whether it’s on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. This can also extend to academic achievements, college commitments, service projects and other related activities. Make sure to use hashtags and tag other teams in your region to help expand your reach.

Market your athletes

Outside of celebrating achievements, social media presents plenty of opportunities to market your athletes and help them get noticed throughout the college recruiting process. You can announce the arrival of new athletes when they join your team or create introduction or highlight videos that show off your athletes. If that seems a bit too time-intensive, keep an eye out for any tweets or posts that athletes and families share. You can share and retweet those to show support and also add content to your page.

Share alumni highlights

Few things make your team look better on social media than alumni getting recruited and playing for a college program. That’s why you should keep following your former athletes and sharing what they’re doing at the next level. This is especially effective when sharing posts about your alumni that have been posted by their college team or university accounts. To get the best possible reach, you’ll ideally want to follow every single college program in your sport—or at least the ones that recruit in your region.

Make sure your Twitter bio stands out

Twitter is the main social media platform used by college coaches and programs when it comes to communicating with potential recruits. To effectively stand out, you’ll want your team’s Twitter handle to actually be representative of your team. So, if your baseball team is the Washington Stars, you may want to name it @StarsBaseball. You’ll also want to make sure the bio is informative and includes any accolades that your team has recently won. Having a recognizable name and informative bio will help your account get more traction.

Educate athletes about dos and don’ts

As you already know, your athletes don’t always make the best decisions. When it comes to social media, once you post something online, it’s out there forever. Help educate them about proper social media usage with these tips:

Do:

  • Stay positive
  • Adopt a 24-hour rule (don’t post when emotions are running hot)
  • Consider what you’re liking and retweeting
  • Make your Instagram and Snapchat accounts private
  • Post highlight and skills clips
  • Announce your commitment

Don’t

  • Use bad language
  • Post anything you wouldn’t want your parents to see
  • Engage with fans of opposing schools or teams
  • Post anything negative about a school that is recruiting you
  • Post personal contact information

When you find success, keep going

Even top clubs still lean on social media after they’ve become household names. After the seminar, we asked some of our top NCSA Team Edition partner clubs about their approach to social media.

Coach Ryan Silver of West Coast Elite—the largest youth travel basketball organization on the West Coast—shared that “Social media is very important for highlighting our players’ accomplishments on and off the court. We believe that off-the-court accomplishments—community service, strong academic resume—are just as important as an athlete with a 40-inch vertical being recruited by the top college programs in the country. The foundation of our program is built around the 40-year plan: setting yourself up for life after basketball. Social media allows us to help each athlete who is a part of our program by highlighting their accomplishments.”

Vince Muscat, Club Director of Michigan Elite Volleyball Academy, shared that “Social media is an important way for us to communicate and market to our customers and their families. We use social media to help promote the individual athletes as well as the team’s accomplishments. We utilize social media to market upcoming programs, lessons, training, tournament schedules and to highlight our alumni as they continue their collegiate careers.”

When utilized correctly, social media can be a tremendous tool for you and your team. Do you need help expanding your social media reach? Have any topics which you’d like to see covered in this column? Reach out to NCSA Team Edition directly at teamedition@ncsasports.com and we’ll let you know how we can help.

Broncos fans love the reason why Terrell Davis yanked his son from a youth football team

Former Broncos running back Terrell Davis wouldn’t let his son play for a youth football team named the “Raiders.”

The Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders have been divisional rivals dating ball the way back to their AFL days in 1960. Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis played in 10 of those rivalry games during his career and helped Denver dominate the series 8-2.

Davis gained 1,054 yards from scrimmage and scored 8 touchdowns in those contests against Oakland and he still feels part of the rivalry to this day. Davis dislikes the Raiders so much that he removed his son from a youth football team named after them, according to NFL Network’s Lindsay Rhodes.

Broncos fans on Twitter approved of the ex-RB’s decision.

Davis ranks No. 1 in franchise history with 7,607 rushing yards and 60 rushing touchdowns. He also totaled 1,280 receiving yards and caught five touchdown passes before his career was cut short by injury.

Davis was a key member of the Broncos teams that won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998, rushing for 1,049 yards and 11 touchdowns in seven playoff games. He was named the NFL’s MVP in 1998 and named the MVP of Super Bowl XXXII following a 31-21 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Davis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

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